Valtteri Bottas: “We will come back stronger on Saturday”

Valtteri Bottas admits the changes made between Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 put Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team in a worse position.

The Finn’s performance was looking strong in FP1, finishing with a time of 1:13.791 to finish in fourth, a time that saw him not really within touching distance of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, finishing the session 0.366 seconds behind him. This performance went backwards, as he finished FP2 in tenth with a time of 1:13.902, two positions behind Hamilton.

Mercedes made some changes in the car-set up over the break, Bottas believes the team went in the wrong direction, as both drivers struggled. With a full day tomorrow to analyse their data, Bottas believes they are in the chance of coming back stronger on Saturday.

“Practice two was difficult and we struggled with the pace over one lap,” said Bottas. “We made some changes between practice one and practice two but we clearly went in the wrong direction – that’s why both of us were struggling.

“When the car isn’t quite right you lose a lot of time in Monaco. We tried to go back with the set-up and it felt better but by that point we’d already put a lot of laps into the tyres. At least we’ve learned what not to do with the set-up here. It’s a shame but we have a full day tomorrow to analyse everything and come back stronger on Saturday. It will be close again at the top I’m sure.”